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Pizza Carnevale

Guest chef Ciro Poppiti presented this recipe, one handed down through his family from Campania. In his family this recipe could also be made with 1 1/2 pounds hard Italian salami instead of the sausage; then it was called Pizza Chiena.

SERVES 8 to 12

Ingredients

4 cups flour

1 cup vegetable or olive oil

1 cup tepid water

1 packet active dry yeast

9 eggs

4 cups ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese, cubed

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage*

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Oil or butter a 9 or 10-inch spring form pan.

In a large bowl, mix together the first four ingredients, make dough into a ball and knead until a smooth. Let rise for about one hour. The dough will seem soft; do not add more flour as long as it can be kneaded and rolled.

Cut the dough in two pieces and roll it out. You may find this easier to do by rolling the dough between 2 pieces of wax or parchment paper. Lay one sheet of dough in the pan. Pour filling into pan.

Put the remaining sheet of dough on top of the filling and then crinkle the edge. Put a slit on top of the dough so that the steam comes out; beat the remaining egg and brush the top layer of dough with it.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the crust is a nice golden brown.

*Note: You may add the sausage in a variety of ways: Remove it from the casing, crumble it and sauté it to remove some of the fat. You may cut it into coins and sauté it. You may cut it into coins and just add it to the stuffing uncooked. Or you can lay the sausage on top of the other mixed stuffing ingredients, either still in links or sliced.